Transferring and cutting apparatus



April 2, 1963 E. A. TAYLOR, JR 3,083,923

TRANSFERRING AND CUTTING APPARATUS Filed March 8, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR EJ022554 Tayloz;

ATTORNEY April 2, 1953 E. A. TAYLOR, JR 3,083,923

TRANSFERRING AND CUTTING APPARATUS Filed March 8, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR nmrZAJqylozaJz v ORNEY April 2, 1963 E. A. TAYLOR, JR 3,033,923

TRANSFERRING AND CUTTING APPARATUS Filed March 8, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR 11 M114 Taglazgfiz ATTORNEY United States Patent ru s Mar. a, 16ll,ei.N0. 13,534 a claims. (Cl. 242-19 This invention relates to transferring and cutting apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for cutting a strand in a continuous take-up mechanism and transferring the strand from a filled to an empty bobbin.

Though applicable in many winding operations, the present apparatus is particularly suitable in that operation where synthetic filament such polyaniides, polyesters, rayon, glass fibers and the like are extruded from a spinnerette or other extrusion means and therea ter passed through various guide means to -a rotating bobbin upon which the filament is wound.

In most present day manufacturing operations the extruded filament, or threadline, is passed over a drive roller onto a bobbin which has been moistened by the operator so as to provide a sticky surface upon which the threadline may be caught. T he threadline is moved back and forth across the rotating bobbin by means of a traverse guide until a package of predetermined size has been obtained, at which time the operator cuts the threadline beingemitted from the spinnerette and passes the same about the surface of the drive roller while he removes the package from contact with said roller and doffs the pack age. He then replaces the full bobbin with an empty bobbin, returns this bobbin into contact with the drive roller, again cuts .the filament line and manually introduces it onto the moistened empty bobbin to start the winding operation again. The filament which has accumulated around the drive roller during the doifing steps is then removed by hand and collected for use as waste.

It is readily apparent from the above description of present day operation that there is considerable loss of time and material during doiiing. It should be recognized that this description applies to only a single machine which during normal commercial production has win-drip speeds. of 300 to 1500 yards per minute. When one considers, for example, that a nylon plant utilizes hundreds of winding machines extruding thousands of yards of filament per minute, the loss of time and filament reaches truly great proportions.

in the case of some synthetic filaments, delivery of the yarn from the spinnerette or the like is interrupted when it is necessary to cloff a full bobbin. This method, though avoiding some of the waste occurring in continuous operations, involves an even greater loss of time in the start up of the extrusion step.

While there have been various ideas advanced for devices which would continuously transfer a threadiine from afull bobbin to an empty bobbin so as to continue winding during the doffing steps, there has been no sufficiently economic and efiicient device developed to displace the manual operation described above. in fact, for the most part, the hand operation with its accompanying deficiencies is still widely used.

By virtue of the present invention, the various disadvantages of the prior art have been obviated. Broadly, the present invention comprises a filament, or thrcadline, transfer and clipping apparatus wherein a threadline being wound on a full bobbin is transferred to an adjacent bobbin and automatically affixed to the surface of the empty bobbin to permit winding to occur thereon, while at the same time the transfer line from the full bobbin is cut or clipped to allow removal of the full bobbin.

In brief, the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein comprises two bobbins mounted on adjacent chucks or spindles, the bobbins being frictionally driven by drive rollers in contact trerewith. The spindles are provided at their adjacent ends with grooved guide means for guiding the filament line from one bobbin to the next as the filament line is shifted. Cutting means are associated with the grooved guide means to cut or clip the filament line after the transfer has been accomplished. In addition, filament directing means are provided between the adjacent spindle ends to assure proper placement of the filament on the empty bobbin.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following detailed description of the invention is read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of this invention;

FlGURE 2 is a fragmentary plane view showing a full bobbin on the left in contact with its drive roller, and an empty bobbin on the right before it is raised into contact with its drive roller;

FlGURE 3 is a plan view showing both the empty bobbin and the ful bobbin raised into contact with the drive rollers and in position for the transfer operation;

FZGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line l4 of FEGURE 1 showing a panel having a helical channel or opening which receives and guides the filament into a cutter;

FEGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FEGURE 1 showing the configuration of the leading end of the left cutter; and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-& of FIGURE 1 showing the configuration of the leading end of the right cutter.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, particularly FIGURE 1, a full bobbin ltlcontaining a yarn package it is rotatably mounted on a spindle 12 which is supported by a pivotally mounted arm 14. The arm is is pivotally mounted on a shaft 16 attached to a base 17. An empty bobbin i3 is rotatably mounted on a spindle 2i supported on an arm 22 which is pivoted on a shaft 24 (FEGURE 3) secured to the base 17.

Reference numerals 26 and 2% indicate grooved guides which are shown mounted on the adjacent ends of the spindles 12 and 2c, respectively. As more clearly shown in the detailed illustration of FIGURES 5 and 6, the grooved guides 26 and 23 comprise a plurality of propeller-like, contoured blades 39 extending outwardly from annular members 32 and 3-; which are removably mounted on the spindles l2 and 2% adjacent to the bobbins lid and Each of the blades lid is helical in configuration, the leading edge of each blade facing in the direction of movement of the blades. The blades taper inwardly to define small notches Sid-between the base portions of the blades where they joint the annular members 32 and 34. These notches or .threadline retainingmeans as are of such-size and shape as to hold a filament line lid close to the periphery of the empty bobbin and provide a starting point for winding the filament on the bobbin. The annular members 32 and 3 2- may be provided, for example with spline fittings, so as to be easily detached when it is desired to remove a bobbin from the spindle.

Knife inserts so having curved cutting edges extend along the inner sides or trailing edges of the blades Fail-and are provided for cutting or clipping the threadline 3% in a manner hereinafter described. Though the knife inserts id may be made integral with and of the same material as the blades 3%, it has been found more practicable to fashion the propeller-like blades 3d of more malleable materials such as aluminum, and to make the steel blades separate and insertable into the annular members 32 and 3 34 as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 or into the body of the blades 30 themselves.

Reference numeral 44 denotes a panel fixedly mounted on the vertical face of the machine, which is indicated by numeral 45 (FIGURE 3). The panel 44 has a helical projection 46 integral therewith which extends between the adjacent guides 26 and 28. Reference numeral 43 denotes a helical channel within the projection 46. In operation, the filament line 33 is pulled along the helical channel 43 to the center of the helix and is thereby forced into a notch 36 in the annular member 34.

Above the bobbins (FIGURE 1) there are shown conventional traverse guide means and means to shift the threadline 38 from one such means to the other. Reference numeral 5% denotes an upper thread guide which is slidably mounted in a slot 52 in a bar 54. Suitable means (not shown) are provided for latching the guide 50 in either of the alternative positions shown. Below the bar 54 is a lifter bar 56 which is pivotably supported in brackets 58 and 60 attached to the machine face.

Reference numerals 62 and 64 indicate traverse mechanisms mounted on the machine face above the bobbins 1t and 18. The traverse mechanisms 62 and 64 are driven by a rotating shaft 66 in a well-known manner. The traverse guides, per so, are denoted by numerals 68 and 70 and comprise semi-circular elements with notches therein through which the thread 38 passes. This illustrated traverse guide means is a conventional type which does not require stopping in order to pick up a threadline. It is only required that the threadline be positioned somewhere along the path of the guide, and the guide will automatically pick up and continue to hold the threadline until the line is lifted out of the slot.

Behind the bobbins and 18 and frictionally engaging the surfaces thereof are drive rollers 72. and 74, respectively, which are of equal diameter and are mounted on a common shaft '76 rotated by driving means 77 of a well-known type mounted on the machine. The threadline 38 in descending from the traverse guide 68 or 7% passes above one of the drive rollers and then onto one of the bobbins.

Referring again to the drawings, the operation of the apparatus of this invention in the embodiment shown will now be described. As seen in FIGURE 1, the thread line 38 coming down from the spinnerette or other emitting means (not shown) passes through the upper thread guide 50 and then through the traverse guide 68 from whence it passes around the bobbin 10 while continuously traversing the length of the bobbin to wind 21 full package thereon. The bobbin 10 is driven by the drive roller 74 in the direction shown by the arrows in FIGURES 1 and 5.

Before the start of the transfer step the empty bobbin 18 is manually moved from the inoperative position shown in FIGURE 2 into place adjacent to the full bobbin 10 shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 so as to be driven by the drive roller 72 at the same peripheral speed at which the full bobbin 10 is rotating.

When the package 11 has reached a predetermined size or when the winding operation has been carried out for a predetermined time, the operator slides the upper thread guide 50 to the right into the position shown in dotted lines while at the same time manually raising the lifter bar 56 to remove the thre'adline 38 from the traverse guide 68. The line 33 then falls across the travel path of the traverse guide 70 and is caught up as soon as the rapidly reciprocating guide 70 strikes it.

With the shift of the threadline 38 to the traverse guide 70 above the empty bobbin 18, the threadline is caused to run across the grooves of the contoured blades 3%) of the grooved guide 26 from whence the line is led into the similarly but opposite hand contoured blades of the grooved guide 28 on the spindle 2t) holding the empty bobbin 18 (note FIGURE 1). The section of the thread lying between the grooved guides 26 and 28 is pulled along 4 the helical channel 48 of the projection 46 and into the center 47 of the helix. This motion forces the filament toward the periphery of the empty bobbin and wedges it into one of the undersized notches 36 as shown in FIG- With the threadline held tightly in one of the notches 36, the rotation of the bobbin pulls it against the periphery of the empty bobbin upon which it now begins to wind. Since both the full bobbin and the empty bobbin are frictionally driven by equal driving forces (drive rollers 72 and 74), their peripheral speeds will be equal. However, the relative angular velocity of the empty bobbin will, naturally, be greater than that of the full bobbin and will exert a pulling force on the filament running from the full bobbin and held in the notch 36 in the empty bobbin annular member 34. This pulling force draws the filament along the contoured blade 30 and moves it, for example, from point A to point B (as shown in FIG- URE 5) against the cutting edge 42 of the knife insert 40, thus clipping the thread. The end of the thread in notch 36 has been pulled tight, holding it in place. The empty bobbin continues to wind leaving the full one free to be dofi'ed. The loose end of thread on the full bobbin cannot unwind due to the direction of rotation of the bobbin.

As the right hand bobbin 18 becomes full, then the above-described operation is reversed, and a new empty bobbin 19 is brought into place adjacent to the now full bobbin 18, and the threadline is passed from right to left to repeat the above-described procedure. In the above manner, the process of winding is carried out continuously and uninterruptedly with no need to stop the operation while dofling a full bobbin.

Though the embodiment disclosed above has been described in connection with winding freshly extruded synthetic filaments, it is obvious that the apparatus can be employed in various other winding as well as winding and drawing operations wherein the bobbins also serve as drawing rolls when rotated at a higher rate of speed than the feeding means.

It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving full bobbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bobbins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned spindles, comprising means to rotate both bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, means to guide the thread from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin including helical blade means defining notches to receive and hold the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, means to direct the thread radially inward toward said spindles and into one of said notches, and knife means carried by said guide means to cut the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

2. An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving full bobbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bobbins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned spindles, comprising means to rotate both bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, means between the bobbins to guide the thread from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin including a plurality of helical blades extending from an annular member removably aflixed to the end of each spindle adjacent the bobbin on that spindle, said helical blades defining notches, therebetween to receive and hold the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, means to direct the thread radially inward and into one of said notches, and knife means carried by said guide means to cut the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

3 An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving full bbbbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bobbins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned Spindles, comprising means to rotate both bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, means between the bobbins to guide the thread from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin including a plurality of helical blades extending from an annular member removably affixed to the end of each spindle adjacent the bobbin on that spindle, adjacent blades defining notches therebetween for receiving and holding the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, means to direct the thread radially inward and into one of said notches, and knife means carried by the helical blades to cut the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

4. An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving full bobbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bob bins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned spindles, comprising means to rotate bot-h bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, traverse guide means associated with said bobbins, means to shift the thread from traverse guide means cooperating with the full bobbin to traverse guide means cooperating with the empty bobbing, helical blade means mounted on each spindle between the bobbins to guide the thread from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin, said helical blade means having notches for receiving and holding the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, a helical member mounted between the guide means for engaging and directing the thread means radially inward and into one of said notches, and knife carried by said helical blade means for cutting the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

5. An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving ful-l bobbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bobbins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned spindles, comprising means to rotate both bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, means mounted between the bobbins to guide the thread from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin including a plurality of helical blades extending from an annular member removably afiixed to the end of each spindle adjacent the bobbin on that spindle, adjacent blades defining notches for receiving and holding the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, a panel fixedly mounted between the adjacent spindles, a guide projection integral with said panel and having a predetermined helical configuration so that the thread is directed from the outer portion of the helix to the center thereof to force the thread radially inward and into one of said notches, and knife means associated with said guide means to cut the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

6. An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving full bobbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bobbins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned spindles, comprising means to rotate both bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, traverse guide means associated with said bobbins, means to shift the thread from traverse guide means cooperating with the full bobbin to traverse guide means cooperating with the empty bobbin, including a plurality of helical blades extending from an annular member removably aifixed to the end of each spindle adjacent to the end of the bobbin on that spindle, adjacent blades defining notches for receiving and holding the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, a threadline guiding member mounted between the annular members and having a helical channel for receiving and carrying the thread radially inward and into one of said notches, and knife means extending from said annular member and adapted to cut the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

7. An apparatus for transferring a thread from a revolving full bobbin to a revolving empty bobbin, said bobbins being mounted on adjacent and coaxially positioned spindles, comprising drive rollers to rotate both bobbins at a predetermined equal peripheral speed, traverse guide means associated with said bobbins, means to shift the thread from traverse guide means cooperating with the full bobbin to traverse guide means cooperating with the empty bobbin, means to guide the thread from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin, including a plurality of helical blades extending from an annular member removably affixed to the end of each spindle adjacent to the end of the bobbin on that spindle, adjacent blades defining notches for receiving and holding the thread at the periphery of the empty bobbin, a threadline guiding member mounted between the annular members and having a helical channel for receiving and carrying the thread radially inward and into one of said notches, and knife means associated with each blade extending from said annular member and adapted to cut the thread after said thread has been retained in said one notch.

8. An apparatus for transferring a threadline being wound on a full bobbin rotatably mounted on a spindle to an empty bobbin rotatably mounted on a spindle adjacent and coaxial to said first spindle, comprising surface drive rollers to frictionally engage the cylindrical surface of each bobbin to drive both bobbins at equal predetermined peripheral speeds, first and second grooved guide means comprising a plurality of helical blades extending from an annular member on each spindle, said first grooved guide means being mounted on the full bobbin spindle at its end adjacent the empty bobbin spindle, said second grooved guide means being mounted on the empty bobbin spindle at its end adjacent the full bobbin spindle, adjacent said blades having bases defining notches for receiving and holding the threadline, knife edge elements mounted on said blades, a threadline directing projection fixedly mounted between said grooved guide means and having a helical channel therein, and means to shift the threadline from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin so that the threadline is passed through said first grooved guide means across said threadline directing projection onto the second grooved guide means, said threadline directing projection being adapted to force the threadline radially inward and into one of said notches as the threadline passes along said helical channel, the threadline being cut by one of said knife edge elements on said first grooved guide means as the empty bobbin rotates at a faster angular velocity than the full bobbin.

9. A device for transferring a filament from a full bobbin to 'an empty bobbin, comprising a base, means for rotatably supporting the bobbins in a coaxial relationship above the base, means on the base for rotating the bobbins, a pair of guides positioned between the bobbins in facing relationship and having helical blades defining therebetween helical grooves for receiving and holding the filament, each of said guides having a plurality of radially extending cutters adjacent to the helical grooves, said cutters being secured to 'the ends of the guides adjacent to the bobbins, and a member mounted on the base between the guides and having a helical channel adapted to receive the filament when the filament is shifted from the full bobbin to the empty bobbin and to force the filament radially inward and into the helical grooves in the guides, said cutters being adapted to cut the filament held in the helical grooves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 405,077 Clark June 11, 1889 2,197,736 Uytenbogaart Apr. 16, 1940 2,296,339 Daniels Sept. 22, 1942 2,304,712 Siegenthaler Dec. 8, 1942 2,824,708 Higgins Feb. 25, 1958 2,932,462 Nelson Apr. 12, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 838,563 France Dec. 7, 1938 533,343 Belgium Dec. 15, 1954 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING A THREAD FROM A REVOLVING FULL BOBBIN TO A REVOLVING EMPTY BOBBIN, SAID BOBBINS BEING MOUNTED ON ADJACENT AND COAXIALLY POSITIONED SPINDLES, COMPRISING MEANS TO ROTATE BOTH BOBBINS AT A PREDETERMINED EQUAL PERIPHERAL SPEED, MEANS TO GUIDE THE THREAD FROM THE FULL BOBBIN TO THE EMPTY BOBBIN INCLUDING HELICAL BLADE MEANS DEFINING NOTCHES TO RECEIVE AND HOLD THE THREAD AT THE PERIPHERY OF THE EMPTY BOBBIN, MEANS TO DIRECT THE THREAD RADIALLY INWARD TOWARD SAID SPINDLES AND INTO ONE OF SAID NOTCHES, AND KNIFE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID GUIDE MEANS TO CUT THE THREAD AFTER SAID THREAD HAS BEEN RETAINED IN SAID ONE NOTCH. 